Morning glories are beautiful fragrant flowers that wake up with the sun and add vibrant color to your garden. Morning glories are hardy plants and are normally healthy, but sometimes insects on morning glory vines harm the health of the plant. Yellow, wilting leaves are telltale signs that your plant has an insect problem.

Morning Glory Pest Problems

There are two common types of insect pests affecting morning glories; both are sucking pests. One is the cotton aphid and the other sucking pest is a spider mite.

Cotton aphids come in many colors. They like to attack the morning glory in the morning. They are difficult to see, but if you look closely, you will observe a mass of aphids on a leaf that is yellowed and crinkling.

The spider mite sucks the sap from the underside of the leaf with its sharp mouth. By the time spider mites are detected, a considerable amount of damage will have been sustained by the morning glory.

There are also insects that like to eat through the leaves and stem of the morning glory. The leaf miner drills tunnels into the leaves of the plant. A green caterpillar called a leafcutter feeds at night and severs the stem of the morning glory and a golden tortoise beetle makes small to medium holes in the foliage.

If your morning glory plant is not treated for pests, they will eventually attack the vine. Pests of morning glory vine need to be eradicated as soon as you seem them or evidence of their presence.

Morning Glory Pest Control

A successful way to rid your morning glory of aphids and spider mites is by syringing. Syringing will knock the pests from your plants by using a hard stream of water. To keep these insects under control, it is best if you repeat this process two times a week.

Insecticidal soap and horticultural oils are also used in controlling pests. Both the soap and oil must make contact with the insects for them to be affective. You can also choose from natural pest controls or organic fungicides, like neem oil.

You can also pluck the pests off with tweezers and drop them in soapy water. Doing this is the most environmentally safe way of ridding your morning glory of these pests.

No matter which method you choose, be sure to be consistent and persistent as the health of your plant depends on your diligence.